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Comment by walthamstow | Hacker News Reader

> Yet many British chains have had zero impact on culture ... There are two big exceptions to this rule: Wagamama and PizzaExpress.

Can't believe they've forgotten about Nando's!

Easily the most culturally significant restaurant chain in the UK, from grime music to the ubiquitous "cheeky nando's" phraseology

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Wagamama and Nando's are arguably the only two big casual dining chains that people actually enjoy eating at. All the others are pretty unpopular (and rightly so, the food is often terrible): Pizza Express, Frankie and Benny's, Pizza Hut, Chiquito...

Nando's social media and culture presence is impressive for a restaurant chain of its size.

You can't put Pizza Express in the same category as Pizza Hut!?

And as a data-point I enjoy Pizza Express - and I've had "proper" pizza to compare it to.

Pizza Express is a known good. It's not the best, but it's guaranteed to be consistent everywhere. It does the job when you just want a "good enough" pizza with little fuss.

In contrast, searching for the best pizza carries a risk of getting something subpar and much worse than even Pizza Express.

It's not much different - Pizza Express isn't anywhere near as posh as it thinks it is, and I'd bet the average spend per customer is lower thanks to the constant Tesco Clubcard deals.

Nandos was in South Africa at least 10 years before it got popular in the UK. I was pretty disappointed when I went there.

I always saw Nandos as a bit more “fast food” than Pizza Express or Wagamama?

More like a (much) better KFC

Nando's isn't a British chain though.

Ah, there's me confusing 'British restaurant chain' with 'restaurant chain in Britain'.

I'm sure the UK is by far their largest market though, and it has had an impact on 21st century UK popular culture far away and above any other restaurant.

Largest market yes, by far no. The UK has around 400 Nandos, South Africa around 350.

It's a cornerstone of the British high-street. We've embraced it and adopted it as ours.

If I went to a town and they didn't have a Nando's I'd treat the place with suspicion.

Given your nickname here, you might be conflating London and the South East with the UK generally.

Signed, 'Haringey' :)

Not really.

Listen to county cricketers talking about travelling. Nan os get mentioned by many at least in the Midlands.

South West here and Nando's is very much culturally important.

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